Spot check on Beach Road parking points to crackdown’s failure

Another spot-check on the much-touted “crackdown” on illegal Beach Road parking again showed that, so far at least, the new bus-stop system is a failure.

Baht buses up and down the shoreline avenue parked anywhere they wanted. Others outright parked in the red-and-white “no parking” zones. Tour buses and minibuses also ignored the off-limit zones and double-parked as they always have Feb. 25.

Selfish drivers are even using bus stops to park, a double whammy as now the busses are unable to use them.

Shopkeeper Somkiat Kaewviset, 37, said so many people came from different provinces to work in Pattaya that the city is crowded with selfish people. “The way how people park is a terrible thing to see in Pattaya right now,” he said.

In January, a host of regional government and police officers announced the introduction of 17 well-marked bus stops for tour buses, baht buses and taxis. The intent, they said, was to eliminate the “nonsense” that Beach Road traffic had become, due mostly to vehicles that double-parked, stopped anywhere they wanted and parked in restricted zones.

Vigilant patrols, frequent ticket-writing and aggressive vehicle-towing were promised. Supporting businesses paraded to back the initiative. Then, once the camera lights went off and the bureaucrats went back to their hovels, life returned to normal on Beach Road.